First Norman Mailer, then Ira Levin. Now comes the sudden news that Emerson Lasalle has died.
I was a big fan of Emerson Lasalle, both the novelist and the unreconstructed literary figure. One of my favorite Lasalle stories holds that the legendary pulp writer, in the mid-1970′s, sucker punched Theodore Geisel outside a men’s room in La Jolla, California. This incident is said to have occured after a long day drinking at the track during a rare fallow period in Lasalle’s career. According to legend, a disoriented Lasalle told police officers, “I thought that was Armi Kuusela.”
As a writer, what I like most about this story is its addendum: Lasalle’s Nebula Award-winning The Mutants of Dr. Zeus was published just six months later, ushering in what scholars consider to be Lasalle’s third Golden Age.
It’s been a dark week for American letters.






Geisel probably had it coming. Rumor has it that after he got a few brewskis under his built, he used to run around badgering everyone in sight to try some “green eggs and ham.”
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Congrats on the Spinetingler nomination, Sean! Or should I say “Rising Star?”
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